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Aravind Adiga

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Aravind Adiga
Born (1974-10-23) 23 October 1974 (age 50)
Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India
OccupationWriter
Alma materColumbia University
Magdalen College, Oxford[1]
GenreNovel and short story
Notable worksThe White Tiger, Last Man in Tower, Selection Day
Notable awards2008 Man Booker Prize
(The White Tiger)[2]
Website
www.aravindadiga.com
Literature portal

Aravind Adiga (born 23 October 1974)[3][4] is an Indian writer and journalist. His debut novel, The White Tiger, won the 2008 Man Booker Prize.[5]

Early life and education

Aravind Adiga was born in Madras (now Chennai) on 23 October 1974 to Dr. K. Madhava Adiga and Usha Adiga from Mangalore. His paternal grandfather was K. Suryanarayana Adiga, former chairman of Karnataka Bank,[6][7] and maternal great-grandfather, U. Rama Rao, was a popular medical practitioner and Congress politician from Madras.[8]

Adiga grew up in Mangalore and studied at Canara High School and later at St. Aloysius College, Mangaluru, where he completed his SSLC in 1990.[7][9][10]

After emigrating to Sydney with his family, Aravind studied at James Ruse Agricultural High School. He later studied English literature at Columbia College of Columbia University, in New York City, under Simon Schama, and graduated as salutatorian in 1997.[11] He also studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, where one of his tutors was Hermione Lee.

Career

Journalism

Aravind Adiga began his journalism career as an intern at the Financial Times.[12] With pieces published in Money and Time, he covered the stock market and investment.

In 2003, he interviewed future US President Donald Trump.[12][13] Later that year, he moved from New York to New Delhi to be South Asia correspondent for Time.[14][15] In a 2017 interview, he explained: “Being a journalist afforded me a path to go back to India."[14]

Three years later, he became a freelance writer and moved to Mumbai.[12]

His review of previous Booker Prize winner, Oscar and Lucinda, appeared in The Second Circle, an online literary review.[16]

The White Tiger

Soon after resigning from his position at Time, Adiga started writing his debut novel, The White Tiger.[17] Published in March 2008, the book won the Booker Prize later that year.[18][19] He is the fourth Indian-born author to win the prize, after Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, and Kiran Desai.[20] Propelled mainly by the Booker Prize win, The White Tiger's Indian hardcover edition sold more than 200,000 copies.[21]

The book received critical acclaim. USA Today called it "one of the most powerful books I've read in decades", comparing it to Richard Wright's Native Son and Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man.[22] The Washington Post called it: "[a] blistering description of the inner workings of India's corrupt upper class [...] fresh, funny, different."[23]

Shortly after Adiga won the Booker Prize, it was alleged that he had sacked the agent who secured his contract with Atlantic Books at the 2007 London Book Fair.[24][25] Adiga denied this claim.[26]

In April 2009, it was announced that the novel would be adapted into a feature film,[27] which was later released on Netflix in 2021.[28][29]

Other works

Adiga's second book, Between the Assassinations, is a short story collection set in a fictional coastal town in India.[30] It was released in India in November 2008[31] and in the US and UK in mid-2009.[32]

His third book, Last Man in Tower, was published in the US in September 2011.[33] His next novel, Selection Day, was published in the US in January 2017.[34]

Amnesty, published in February 2020, is a novel about an undocumented Sri Lankan immigrant living in Australia.[35][36] It was shortlisted for the 2021 Miles Franklin Award.[37]

Bibliography

Novels

Short stories

Selected Articles

References

  1. ^ "Aravind Adiga author biography". BookBrowse.com. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  2. ^ Higgins, Charlotte (14 October 2008). "Aravind Adiga wins Booker prize with The White Tiger". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  3. ^ Adiga, Aravind (18 October 2008). "Provocation is one of the legitimate goals of literature". The Indian Express (Interview). Interviewed by Vijay Rana. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  4. ^ Indian Australian novelist Aravind Adiga wins Booker prize - Express India Archived 5 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Indian novelist Aravind Adiga wins Booker prize". Agencies. Expressindia. 15 October 2008. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
  6. ^ "Booker for KannAdiga". Deccan Herald. 16 October 2008. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2008.
  7. ^ a b "Mangloreans rejoice over Aravind Adiga's win". The Hindu. 16 October 2008. Archived from the original on 20 October 2008. Retrieved 16 October 2008.
  8. ^ Muthiah, S. (3 November 2008). "A lineage of success". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012.
  9. ^ "Almamater celebrates Adiga's win". Bangalore Mirror. 16 October 2008. Archived from the original on 18 October 2008. Retrieved 16 October 2008.
  10. ^ Karnel, Savie (16 October 2008). "Kannadigas' pride". Mid-Day. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  11. ^ At Last! Commencement For More than 8,900 Today. Columbia University Record. MAY 21, 1997 Archived 27 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ a b c "Curious Case of Aravind Adiga". First Post. 16 February 2021.
  13. ^ Krich, John (24 June 2020). "Author Aravind Adiga highlights Australian 'hypocrisy'". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  14. ^ a b Moss, Stephen (25 August 2017). "Aravind Adiga: 'I was afraid the White Tiger would eat me up too'". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  15. ^ Adiga, Aravind (10 June 2009). "My Wild Trip Home". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 23 March 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  16. ^ Adiga, Aravind. "OSCAR AND LUCINDA by Peter Carey". The Second Circle. Archived 25 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ^ Green, William (15 October 2008). "Celebrating with Booker Prize Winner Aravind Adiga". Time. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  18. ^ "The White Tiger". The Booker Prizes. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  19. ^ Young, Victoria (14 October 2008). "Novel About India Wins the Man Booker Prize". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 12 April 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  20. ^ Ritchie, Alice (15 October 2008). "India's Aravind Adiga wins Booker Prize". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  21. ^ "Boom time for English-language books in India", The Hindu, 4 March 2010.
  22. ^ "Roundup: Debut novels". USA Today. 23 April 2008. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  23. ^ "Changing Lanes". The Washington Post. 7 June 2008. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  24. ^ "Booker in pocket, Aravind Adiga sacks agent". CNN-IBN. 26 October 2008. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
  25. ^ Eden, Richard (25 October 2008). "Ambitious Booker winner Aravind Adaga sacks agent of his success". The Telegraph. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  26. ^ "Booker winner Adiga denies he sacked his agent". The Hindu. 26 October 2008. Archived from the original on 30 October 2008. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  27. ^ Kay, Jeremy (15 April 2009), "Smuggler, Ascension acquire 2008 Mann Booker winner White Tiger", Screen Daily.
  28. ^ Thiagarajan, Kamala; Silver, Marc (29 January 2021). "What Indians Who've Known Poverty Think Of Netflix's 'The White Tiger' Movie". NPR. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  29. ^ "How Netflix helped The White Tiger movie become a reality". The Indian Express. 21 January 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  30. ^ Swarup, Vikas (10 July 2009). "Caste away". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  31. ^ Donthi, Praveen (23 October 2008). "Adigas second book to hit shelves". Deccan Herald. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
  32. ^ "BETWEEN THE ASSASSINATIONS". Kirkus Reviews. 19 May 2010. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  33. ^ "LAST MAN IN TOWER". Kirkus Reviews. 1 August 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  34. ^ "SELECTION DAY". Kirkus Reviews. 18 October 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  35. ^ Rashid, Tanjil (20 February 2020). "Amnesty by Aravind Adiga review – a migrant's tale". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  36. ^ "AMNESTY". Kirkus Reviews. 10 November 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  37. ^ "Miles Franklin 2021 shortlist announced". Books+Publishing. 16 June 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
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